S4.E22 - Captain's Log: Don't miss these deadlines! Maritime Chokepoints (May 13) and Ship-to-Shore cranes/chassis/containers (May 19), and... Ships Act reintroduction and new MARAD nominee

🚢 By Land and By Sea Podcast

Topic of the Week (5/9/24):

🎙️ New Episode: "Don't miss these deadlines! Maritime Chokepoints (May 13) and Ship-to-Shore cranes/chassis/containers (May 19)"

 The Maritime Professor® presents By Land and By Sea - an attorney breaking down the week in supply chain

with Lauren Beagen (Founder of The Maritime Professor® and Squall Strategies®)

📉 Imports are down 20–30% year over year…

📈 But the slowdown might open space for realignment.

From federal nominations to laser carp defenses, this week’s Captain’s Log is full steam ahead.

👇 Here’s what we cover:

 🔹 Story 1 – Steve Carmel Nominated by President Trump

A Maersk veteran steps into the top MARAD role—what this could mean for U.S.-flag policy and sealift.

 🔹 Story 2 – SHIPS for America Act Reintroduced 💪

New tax credits, fleet expansion goals, and cargo preference mandates make this version stronger than ever.

 🔹 Story 3 – Repositioning Opportunities Emerge

Carriers may reposition China-built vessels and consider U.S.-flag registration amid softened demand.

 🔹 Story 4 – FY2026 Trump Budget

Ports get infrastructure funding, but HMTF cuts raise concerns—especially for smaller harbors.

 🔹 Story 5 – FMC Chokepoints Comments Due May 13

If chokepoints like the Panama Canal impact your cargo, now’s the time to weigh in.

🖥️ Learn more in our e-course → https://www.themaritimeprofessor.com/challenge-page/85e5c58c-49b8-4c25-9863-3eb858b4b75d?programId=85e5c58c-49b8-4c25-9863-3eb858b4b75d

 🔹 Story 6 – Great Lakes Laser Carp Defense 🤯

Whitmer and Trump find common ground on invasive species protection at Brandon Road.

 🔹 Story 7 – USTR’s Section 301 Maritime Tariffs

New proposals include up to 100% duties on STS cranes, chassis, and port equipment.

🗓️ Comments due May 19

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** As always the guidance here is general and for educational purposes only, it should not be construed to be legal advice and there is no attorney-client privilege created by this video. If you need an attorney, contact an attorney. **

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 2:36 Steve Carmel's MARAD Nomination
• 7:36 Ships for America Act Returns
• 14:13 US Imports Down: Silver Linings
• 21:51 FMC Chokepoint Investigation Deadline
• 25:59 Invasive Carp and Great Lakes Protection
• 29:15 Section 301 Tariffs on Maritime Equipment

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:26

I got On top To be. When you see me, come Make some room. It's a good night. Whoa, I'm living bold this is what it looks like. I'm addicted to the world. Whoa, whoa.

Speaker 1: 0:59

There's still a lot going on in the world of ocean shipping and maritime policy, and that is especially true this month, and we're only nine days into May. There was a lot happening in April. We have the National Maritime Day later this month. I'm expecting more to come down, we'll see. I've been keeping a close eye on all of it, from new leadership nominees and legislation on the Hill to proposed tariff on port equipment have you paid attention to that? Strategic moves for motion carriers and a few under the radar, but like very important deadlines that are coming up very quickly, like next week, quickly to make note of. There is a lot to talk about, so we're going to talk about it today.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Hi, welcome back to, by Land and by Sea, an attorney breaking down the weakened supply chain presented by the Maritime Professor me. I'm Lauren Began, founder of the Maritime Professor and Small Strategies, and I'm your favorite maritime attorney. Join me every week as we walk through both ocean transport and surface transport topics in the wild world of supply chain. As always, the guidance here is general and for educational purposes only. It should not be construed to be legal advice, and there is no attorney-client privilege created by this relationship. Nope, no attorney-client relationship created by this podcast. It's been a while. If you need an attorney, contact an attorney.

Speaker 1: 2:21

Usually we go through my top three stories of the week, but this week every story is a top story, so let's get into it. It's the captain's blog. All right. Story number one Steve Carmel has been nominated as maritime administrator. Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about a nominee to the maritime administrator role. There's a new nominee to the maritime administrator role. This is taking over that nomination that was presented previously. President Trump has nominated Steve Carmel to head the US Maritime Administration, marad, which would be replacing Brent Sadler's nomination, which has now been withdrawn. So let's talk a little bit about Steve Carmel. I'm still reading about him, learning about him, watching his previous interviews and presentations, but he brings a lot of commercial shipping experience, most recently with Maersk Line Limited, which is the US flag subsidiary of the Global Ocean Carrier Maersk. This is great. This is great. Look, he is a well-known voice in sea lift strategy and maritime economics. Anyways, his nomination to me suggests perhaps a policy shift toward commercial integration, and maybe not even a policy shift, but like an intention.

Speaker 1: 3:32

There has been a lot, a lot of voices saying we needed more commercial supply chain industry representation at the highest levels of leadership. We have been getting a lot of military maritime discussion right. Of course, when it comes to shipbuilding, you get a lot of defense readiness conversations, you get a lot of military readiness conversations and at the heart of it, that is what this, all of this maritime focus, is about. But it's also about supply chain and it's also about the ecosystem of the supply chain and the commercial integration and I think we're starting to see that in some of the supporting roles to the otherwise ocean shipping right. We're seeing drayage providers, trucking providers, especially on the West Coast, talking about how some of these tariff and trade discussions and the lower import volumes, the impact that that's having on them now and not later in the month, when it's being said that some of the imports might be shelves might start to find themselves empty by the end of the month or early June. That's what I've been hearing from some of the importers out there. But the thing is, if you don't have the total integration on the commercial side and on the full supply chain understanding of the ecosystem. You wouldn't necessarily think about all the intermodal pieces, all of the drage providers and how it might affect them earlier than the actual end result person consumer going out there to buy goods. So all of this to say I'm excited. I think this is cool. He may be especially well positioned to bridge that gap between private and public sectors here and a much needed connection to the US basis global supply chain vulnerabilities. I think that this is great that he has a I mean firsthand experience of how ocean shipments work, having worked for the US-like subsidiary Mariscaline Limited. So Mara does oversee US Merchant Marines, strategic Sealift and programs like the Ready Reserve Force, which is basically like emergency backup fleet for national crises.

Speaker 1: 5:36

Maritime is going to need a three-pronged approach here and this is what I'm seeing kind of as one of the themes right, whenever I look at new administrations I try to find the themes among them and I think I probably mentioned this, but I see a three-pronged approach here that's needed for revitalization effective revitalization in the maritime sector. We need the ships. We've been hearing a lot about the ships. We have Ships Act. We have the Executive Order that talks a lot about shipbuilding. We need US ships, but in order to have ships that last, we need mariners to operate those ships. We're going to be seeing a lot more coming out about mariners, but I'm already seeing tax breaks, I'm already seeing public student loan forgiveness incentives. I'm seeing things that are helping the mariners themselves and also the Maritime Academies to offset some of the costs.

Speaker 1: 6:21

The new Ships Act talks about fuel subsidies for these giant, beautiful vessels that the Maritime Academies are receiving, but also now there's some funding appropriated so that they can actually use those ships, sail those ships with fuel subsidies. That's a big piece. But then the third part is cargo, and I think that's where we're seeing some of these tariff discussions talk about moving and exemptions of the USTR Section 301 waivers that might be associated with the cargo coming on US flag vessels companies or just some sort of an intention to US owned operated that's trying to impact the movement or the behavior of shippers trying to decide where their cargo will go. So it's the three pronged approach it's the ships, it's the mariners and it's the cargo. And keep that in mind as these proposals continue to trickle out. We're going to see an emphasis on really trying to impact that behavior, based on the shipbuilding, the manning of those ships and where the shippers are choosing to ship their goods. All right, story number two. So Ships for America Act returns last week with reinforcements.

Speaker 1: 7:36

So the Ships for America Act was reintroduced into Congress and it marked a pivotal step toward revitalizing the US maritime industry. It kind of creates the legislation that's supportive of some of these otherwise initiatives floating around out there. This gives it a hook. The bipartisan legislation aims to expand the US flag fleet and strengthen the nation's shipbuilding capabilities. So the original act was introduced December 2024. The Ships for America Act sought to expand the US flag fleet to 250 vessels by 2035, which would enhance strategic sea lift capacity. It also sought to rebuild the US shipyard industrial base, providing financial incentives for modernization and expansion of US shipyards and just the base in general.

Speaker 1: 8:18

This is interesting. This is something that we saw in the executive order. It establishes a maritime security advisor within the White House to coordinate maritime policy across federal agencies. We already have somebody in that role, but it's great to see a maritime person that close to the White House because, as it's rightly being pointed out, maritime security is national security. We're also seeing something interesting creating a maritime security trust fund to support ongoing investments, maritime infrastructure and workforce development. There's also a Maritime Prosperity Zones that's being introduced both in the executive order and a little bit more explanation in the Ships for America Act.

Speaker 1: 8:55

I think that both the Maritime Security Trust Fund and this Maritime Prosperity Zones are going to be really interesting. I think that the Maritime Prosperity Zones is going to be really interesting. I think that the maritime prosperity zones is going to be probably something akin to I don't know if you knew this, but Massachusetts has designated port areas, dpas. Now, these are areas reserved for maritime industrial uses. Obviously, ships need a shoreline and, as the world is developing condos along shorelines, these DPAs, or perhaps maritime prosperity zones, are going to be more important. But maritime prosperity zones might not only be along the shoreline, they might also be elsewhere, and I'm thinking that maybe transloading, maybe there's something there I don't know, we'll see but something to pay attention to. I think that these new ideas are going to be a little bit more all-encompassing and I think that there's going to be some really there's going to be some great opportunity for innovation and creative thinking to be applied to Maritime Security Trust Fund or Maritime Prosperity Zones.

Speaker 1: 9:55

We're also going to see enhanced mariner recruitment and training, ensuring a robust pipeline of qualified personnel. So that's not only from the original act, but now the reintroduction. There are investment tax credits in the reintroduction, kind of an expansion of those we're going to see. Or we are seeing strategic commercial fleet program, so establishing a program to increase the US flag fleet to 250 vessels, like we saw, mandating that these ships be built US built US flag fleet to 250 vessels, like we saw, mandating that these ships be built US, built, us crude and capable of serving national defense interests. And then also allowing temporary use of foreign-built ships with a phase-out by fiscal year 2030.

Speaker 1: 10:30

Some of these reintroductions I think the new proposal out of USTR Section 301 and now this reintroduction of the Ships Act, is allowing for a longer runway, because we obviously can't just flip the switch, we can't just make vessels within a week's notice it's going to take longer than that and so allowing temporary use of foreign built ships with a phase out target here the target is 2030, I think is a more realistic approach and also kind of a more more realistic approach and also kind of a more nuanced approach. That's not quite exactly what I'm trying to say, but a better way of doing it because it's going to allow for that transition from the current reliance on foreign built ships to US built ships, once we get some of the other components going and we get that US shipbuilding industrial base expanded. We're also seeing cargo preference requirements included in this reintroduction. We're seeing those maritime prosperity zones. Like I said, this is introducing zones offering capital gains tax exemptions for maritime industrial investments in designated regions.

Speaker 1: 11:35

But then also in this reintroduction, a Ship America office. So establishing an office within MARAD, the Maritime Administration, to promote the use of US flag vessels by commercial shippers. And I think that this is something that isn't necessarily it's part of the promotional objectives of MARAD, but this is something that I don't know if commercial shippers are taking into consideration. There are US flag companies that do international container movement shipment. You can actually use a US flag company. Like I said, it might be a subsidiary of a larger global ocean carrier, but there are US flag companies APL, marist Line Limited that can actually ship cargo containers internationally Something to look at. And now, with the Ships America office, it's something that I think we're going to see perhaps more utilization of. Also developing a verification program for self-certification industry standards under the Ship America office. So why does all this matter? China's dominance in global shipbuilding right, this is what it is.

Speaker 1: 12:39

The Ships for America Act talks about the dwindling US fleet. This legislation represents this comprehensive strategy and a legislative hook to enhance that national security by ensuring reliable maritime logistics in times of conflict. That's kind of one of the themes going behind why this is all happening, why this is elevated to a top five issue of the presidential office. It's going to stimulate economic growth through investment in shipyards and creation of high paying jobs. It's going to reduce dependency on foreign vessels for transporting critical goods and, particularly as we continually see reducing dependency on China-based movements and China-based companies. And it's also going to promote innovation in shipbuilding maritime technology. There were some pretty cool sections of both the Executive Order and Ships for America Act that talks about kind of this R&D, this research and development, this new section of maritime innovation, and I think that this will be cool. I think in one of my past episodes I talked about we might see the F-150, but then we might also see the Cybertruck, and I think that that's something that this administration seems to be looking at is, let's do a copy and paste of just a paperweight that floats, that carries containers, but then let's also build something that's cool. That might be something that's like yeah, I want to buy that ship. So we'll see. We'll see where this goes, but I think that this is interesting and Ships for America Act was reintroduced last week. Go take a look at it. There's some new stuff in there. Story number three Look, reports are saying that imports are down, and certainly that's true.

Speaker 1: 14:13

But I think that there's some silver lining here. I think that there's some silver lining and I think that there's some things happening, maybe a little bit more in the background, that we're not necessarily seeing, but I think that these are important things to note. Look, us imports are down. There's reports saying 20 to 30 percent declines year over year. I think it's important to note that some of these are year over year, month to month reviews, but then some of them are. We also saw an increase happening in January and December when things were kind of front loading, knowing that things were going to shift with the new year and with the new administration. But still, 20 to 30% declines is significant and, like I said, it's starting to affect the rest of the ecosystem.

Speaker 1: 14:55

But there might be some silver linings into this softer market and I think one of those is, with fewer boxes moving, I think ocean carriers are potentially using this time to reposition their fleets. So we've talked about the USTR Section 301 proposals and it talks all about China-built ships, china-operated ships, but it's the China-built ships that I think is going to be part of this repositioning and, with a downed demand right now, ocean carriers can reposition their vessels that are perhaps Korean-based vessels or elsewhere-built vessels to be the ones that call the US based vessels, or elsewhere built vessels to be the ones that call the US to try to circumvent, to try to get around getting any sort of penalties on tariffs that are going to be assessed under the USTR Section 301. But then I think that also goes to some of the blank sailings that we're seeing. I've been hearing higher numbers of blank sailings, which sometimes blank sailings can be for repositioning of vessels, it can be for operational pauses, skipping ports for certain reasons, but I also think that that might be related to some of the repositioning of vessels for longer term strategic value. Now, not only are we going to see the ocean carrier specifically perhaps repositioning the vessel and you can Google vessels if you. You know you can even Google the Ever Given or whatever vessel to find out. You could probably find out pretty easily where that vessel was built and then you'll know what your exposure. For the most part it's the same vessel on a specific trade route. You'll know with some regularity and with some certainty once things settle out right where we have 180 day pause. So we're looking at you know the fall where we're going to start seeing any of those section 301 penalties or fees come in. But what you can do is look at the vessel that is shipped on, which is usually information included in some of your shipping documents Google it and see is that a vessel that is going to get pinged by some of these USTR Section 301 tariffs or not? Something to just take an extra step to look at?

Speaker 1: 17:14

I also think that something that might also be happening is we might start seeing some reflagging of some of these vessels into US registry or into US flag companies. Like I said, we have Maersk Line Limited, which is a subsidiary of the larger Maersk. They might start to move some of their vessels over into Maersk Line Limited to try to reflag it, because they're going to see benefits to that. We see that in the Section 301. There's some waivers and variances for US-owned, us-operated companies. I think that that's something that we're going to see continue because, like I said, it's a three-prong approach. We have ships, we have mariners and we're going to need the cargo to sustain it, because once you inject the cash at the beginning, it's going to need to sustain itself, and I think that's where we've moved the cargo over onto these ships and that's what's being attempted here. So all I'm saying is I think that there's some silver linings to the downed demand. Right now that's happening.

Speaker 1: 18:12

Repositioning of vessels, because I don't think the ocean carriers want these fees any more than anybody else does, and certainly the fees will probably get passed through, of course, because it's not necessarily the ocean carrier's fault that the fees are being assessed and they're only going to be assessed for up to five calls per vessel. So there is some reprieve from all of these fees. But pay attention right. Knowing which vessel your cargo is shipping on and knowing if that vessel was where it was built might be important to figure out. Are you going to be subject to some of these larger fees?

Speaker 1: 18:48

And then, like I said, some of these flags, some of these vessels might end up getting reflagged to US registry, and then that might also provide an opportunity. So what is reflagging? Maybe I should stop there for a second. It's when a vessel that's registered under one country's flag like Panama or Liberia or Marshall Islands those are usually the flags of convenience is switched to another like the United States. There's also just yesterday reports and I haven't dove too far into it so I didn't do a separate story on it but the US Virgin Islands might be another potential flag that might come under US flagging, but being US Virgin Islands, which would, I guess, in theory have less restrictive requirements, and so perhaps that might be the US option for flags convenience. But yeah, so doing so re-flagging vessels comes with more regulatory requirements and costs if it's under the US directly, but it can also unlock access to US government cargo and national security programs like the Maritime Security Program, msp. But I also think that if we have a US flag of convenience, there might be an opportunity for some financial gains there. So we'll see. We'll see how all of this happens. But look, it's implemented. These proposals can incentivize operators to rethink how and where their vessels are flagged, maintained or even deployed, and I think that we're going to be seeing some reflagging, some repositioning, some shifting strategic shifting, I guess of fleets over the next certainly six months.

Speaker 1: 20:17

I also want to talk to the ghost town narrative, and I've seen Dr Salmer Cagliano looking at this as well. I've seen some headlines or maybe they weren't even headlines, maybe they were just tweets or X posts or whatever they are that US ports may be ghost towns. Us ports are still doing trade Right. There's certainly less congestion than especially during the height of the pandemic. There's certainly less congestion especially during the height of the pandemic. There's certainly less volume coming in, but ships are still arriving, terminals are still moving, cargo Trade is still flowing. I really am echoing Sal Mercacoliano's perspective here. If you haven't taken a look at what's going on with shipping he did an episode on our porch ghost towns right now and he also pointed to marinetrafficcom you can actually see the vessel movements and vessel calls. They're not stopping. They might be reducing, but they're not stopping coming into US ports. So I think that we should be accurate in our portrayal here and not overly. The accuracy of the information is important and I think that we'll also perhaps see some changes over the next few months that are going to change this. But who knows, like reflagging, repositioning and aligning assets with these federal priorities coming out of the United States, that maybe will help promote the US maritime sector more broadly.

Speaker 1: 21:47

Story number four that was only story number three. Story number four let's talk about the budget for a second. I'm not going to go too far into it, but we have seen a fiscal year 2026 budget proposed by the Trump administration, 2026 budget proposed by the Trump administration. It includes a strong show of support for port development but also proposes surprising cuts to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. So how it breaks down and, like I said, we're not going to go too far into it today with this captain's log. But what is funded? Continue investment in the PIDP, the Port Infrastructure Development Program, which provides grants to modernize ports, improve throughput and expand cargo capacity. It also provides support for training shifts and maritime academies aimed at strengthening the future maritime workforce. But what was interesting and perhaps a little surprising, is that the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is lower than expected, despite ongoing calls from port authorities, and especially the American Association of Port Authorities, saying that Congress should fully utilize the collected Harbor Maintenance Tax revenues. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is funded by a fee this Harbor Maintenance Tax on imported goods and is supposed to be paying for dredging, harbor deepening and maintenance right Harbor maintenance at US ports. Cutting that fund can disproportionately affect smaller regional ports that rely on dredging to remain navigable. I don't necessarily think it's for a lack of desire to dredge that that fund has been underutilized, and so I hope that that gets a little bit more attention and we figure out the resource mismatch and not just cut the program. But there we are. You know, those are the proposals coming out of the budget, out of the president's office.

Speaker 1: 23:24

Story number five this is where we get into the deadlines that I want you to pay attention to the Federal Maritime Commission chokepoint investigation. It is closing up very soon. Public comments are due on Monday, monday May 13th. Monday, may 13th Today's Friday, the 9th, monday May 13th, is when you have your opportunity to submit comments. There have only been three comments submitted.

Speaker 1: 23:47

The areas under review include Panama Canal, suez Canal, Northern Sea Route, malacca Strait, the Singapore Strait, strait of Gibraltar and the Ingalls Channel. Why this matters? These choke points are vital to US trade. The FMC is investigating whether foreign policies at these passages are discriminating against US cargo or carriers or US interests. So what can the FMC do of this discrimination against unfavorable shipping conditions? They could also bar access to US ports for non-compliant carriers or non-compliant flag operators. So if they were to find something wrong with the way Panama is conducting the Panama Canal, they could potentially turn away Panamanian flag vessels, which would be 18 to 20 percent of the world's flag fleet.

Speaker 1: 24:52

We are just starting to get a handle on the USTR section 301 proposals, and then now this might line up on top of that. So we'll see right, we'll see. But this is important. You should be paying attention to this. You should be making plans to submit comments. They are due by May 13th. You can make them on regulationsgov, but go find this on the FMC's website. If you want a quick primer, I do have a course on this Maritime Chokepoint on themaritimeprofessorcom. Take a look If you want just kind of a quick and dirty version of what's going on. What are they looking at, why are they looking at it and how this is going to impact everybody. Take a look at themaritimeprofessorcom. But, above everything else, go take a look at this actual proposal. May 13th, this is the opportunity to have your voice heard, the whole industry, to have our voice heard. You're going to miss your chance if you don't get your comments in by May 13th by Monday Story number six. This one's just kind of a fun one. Let's head to the Midwest for this one Invasive carp, laser barriers and unlikely alliances in the Great Lakes.

Speaker 1: 25:59

In the Midwest we have. Ecological concern is creating some unlikely but constructive political collaboration. You may have seen, in April, governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan recently met with President Trump to discuss the future of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Project, which is a critical barrier that could prevent invasive Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan and, by extension, the entire Great Lakes ecosystem. So what's the concern here?

Speaker 1: 26:25

Asian carp, the wildest species. It's incredibly invasive. What they do is if you are out fishing and you have just a motor on the back of your vessel right Of course, you're just out fishing on a fishing boat they like dive, bomb your boat. They will just jump out of the water and will hit you while you're fishing. Now, that's not even the worst of what they do, but that's certainly the most disruptive. If you're a fisherman, look well. Partially most disruptive because they could out-compete native fish. They disrupt commercial and sport fishing and they just throw an overall wrench into the region's $7 billion maritime and freshwater economy. There are some wild things that have been in place for quite a while. They have electric fields, there are sound deterrents and tests. There are even laser beams literal laser beams in the water that stop these Asian carp from advancing upstream. They're mostly located in Illinois, chicago River and elsewhere, but they stop, they attempt to stop the aquatic invasive species to coming in. This isn't science fiction. It's happening right now, just outside Chicago.

Speaker 1: 27:35

Look, it's important to note something here, though. Governor Whitmer one of President Trump's most vocal critics, I would say has found common ground here, advocating for full federal support to accelerate construction timelines and strengthen this barrier system, and President Trump said in a press release or in his press briefing, that this was something that he was behind, that it was a moment for policy alignment, not focused on the politics, but on preserving a vital waterway that millions depend on rolling up their sleeves to help. Here there's a lot of there's a lot of politics at play, and certainly there's a lot of political consternation, but I think the point here is, for the maritime issues, a good idea is a good idea, and it seems like this administration, and certainly those supporting maritime in this administration want to hear from the maritime industry and want to hear suggestions and good ideas in whatever form that comes. This is great news for Michigan. All right, story number seven. We're going to be closing up with story number seven here.

Speaker 1: 28:42

Section 301 tariffs. We've been talking about them periodically today. We've been talking about them a lot over the past few months, weeks, certainly since that April 17th new proposal out of the USTR. But one other thing that I wanted to highlight from the USTR April 17th proposal is their proposed fees on ship-to-shore cranes, chassis and other cargo handling equipment. So let's kind of revisit this for a second here.

Speaker 1: 29:06

United States Trade Representative proposed a sweeping set of fees targeting vessels with China ties. This was part of the broader Section 301 investigation into China's dominance of the global maritime supply chain. So it was a million dollars per port call initially. They've since reduced that. They've separated it out to China built vessels operated by Chinese companies versus China built vessels operated by non-Chinese companies. We see kind of a runway again, if you will, of when those fees go into effect.

Speaker 1: 29:41

But there's a critical piece that really isn't getting as much attention that USTR in that same document under Annex 5, is proposing additional duties of up to 100% on Chinese origin maritime equipment and components and ship-to-shore cranes. And so what we're seeing is the different categories of intermodal chassis trailer frames that carry shipping containers 20 to 100% I'm going to repeat that 20 to 100% tariff rate. Chassis parts, key components used in container transport. 20 to 100% on that proposed rate fee. And then also ship to shore gantry cranes. So these are the higher low profile steel cranes used to unload container ships. It's the way that vessels and land meet. It's the ship to shore crane right. Ship to shore crane 100% proposed on this. This is something that was proposed previously under the Biden administration and luckily got stopped in its tracks. This is significant because there just aren't other ship to shore crane options. So this is something that I really want to see the industry pay attention to submit comments on. So what's also included, right? What's cargo handling equipment? We're looking at mechanical and digital infrastructure used at marine terminals. So cranes, spreaders, lifting gear, yard trucks, intermodal chassis, terminal automation systems, diagnostic software. We're looking at chassis containers. I mean, can you imagine if we had 20 to 100% fee on containers or chassis? That would just add to the overall consumer cost of everything going in until the industry was able to catch up and until we were able to have US or non-China options and certainly there are non-China options on some of these other marine handling equipment, but the shift to shore cranes there really aren't. Look, this is important. This is something to pay attention to.

Speaker 1: 31:44

Important deadlines If you want to testify at a public hearing, the public hearing will be May 19th. The deadline to request to testify was actually yesterday, may 8th. It's okay, you know, if you still want to testify, I'd say submit it anyway. See, let them say no. Look, it was due yesterday, today's May 9th. It was due May 8th. But you can still have an opportunity to write comments. So those are due May 19th. So that's when that public hearing is going to be happening. So those are due May 19th. So that's when that public hearing is going to be happening. You can still write comments and then you have, seven days after the hearing for rebuttal comments. This is important A significant escalation in US maritime trade enforcement.

Speaker 1: 32:34

Your port, port operator, terminal equipment vendor, chassis, pool manager, supply chain strategist, anything to do with the maritime industry. I mean, you can't just protest it. You have to come up with better ideas, and to me it feels like one of the better ideas is a little bit more of a runway. But if they don't hear from anybody, they're not going to know that the industry needs a runway here. So we saw it with USTR initial proposals, where everybody came together and had this great brainstorming session at the hearing. I think that this moment requires a similar engagement from the industry. We have to be paying attention to this. Chassis containers, the lifeblood of supply chain, but then also these ship-to-shore cranes. So, look, we've covered a lot of things today in this episode Federal nominations, shipbuilding legislation, shifting carrier strategies, serious trade enforcement tools.

Speaker 1: 33:16

But the two deadlines you have to pay attention to Write them down as you're listening right now or do a Siri note May 13th, the deadline to submit comments on the FMC's Maritime Chokepoints Investigation. That's Monday. If your cargo, cargo vessel operations, routing decisions have ever been impacted by choke points access, or you've even or you've seen uneven practices at places like Panama Canal or Suez Canal, you got to be submitting comments. This is a unique opportunity to influence and the FMC can move quickly. There might not be a proposal with comments, this might just be. They take action. So May 13th today's May 9th, may 13th, and the second date is this May 19th date. This is for the USTR proposed Section 301 tariffs on the ship's short cranes, the chassis and the cargo handling equipment and the containers. May 19th Look, if you need a briefer on the maritime choke points, I have an e-course. I told you about that's on the maritimeprofessorcom. Take a look at these two dates. We're looking at may 19th and we're looking at may 13th, both very important. Gotta submit the comments. This is when you get your voice heard in the maritime industry, and we're seeing these comments make a difference. These comments are making a difference, and so it's important to stay engaged.

Speaker 1: 34:32

As always, the guidance here is general, for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice. If you need legal help, reach out to an attorney. Contact an attorney For consulting, training or policy insight, though. You can find me at Squall Strategies or the Maritime Professor. Legal questions go to Squall Strategies. General industry information and insights go to the Maritime Professor. Subscribe to by Land and by Sea. If you like these podcasts, watch the full episodes on the YouTube page by Land and by Sea, presented by the Maritime Professor. Come learn more about what TheMaritimeProfessorcom is offering. And until next time, I'm Lauren Began, the Maritime Professor, and you've just listened by Land and by Sea, see you next time.